Copper tags from what or where?
- Thread starter aj0421
- Start date
Country Dirt Kid
Elite Member
I think they are tool check out tags from the 1960s or later. The reason being is because I find paper shotgun shells from the 1960s that still have a little bit of the paper left after laying in the mud for years.
aj0421
Elite Member
aj0421
Elite Member
1-1/8" diameter.
Miner tags. I've found quite a few of them over the years, I have a baggie full of different ones. I've read they served different purposes at the under ground mines. One was to put on a board to check in and out of the mine to ensure everyone made it out of the mine. Another was to check out tools so they knew who had them. And another I read was they put them on the carts of coal they sent up so the people up top knew the miner that sent the loaded cart. Most of them date between the 20's and 40's I believe.
Always wondered why those guys had tags. Duh !!!
Im hunting an old mining townsite, and have found similar tags.
Like Azmodeus pointed out the bottom tag is the miners tag. It has the mining company and mine name stamped on the top, with a number at the bottom. It has a 1.5" diameter.
The two top tags are smaller like yours, but just have a number. I believe these were the tool tags Azmodeus mentioned.
Rock Jock
Elite Member
If those tags are really from South Jersey then I doubt that they are miner tags. The .22 cartridge is interesting. As a kid I remember seeing what were called .22 shot loads at a local rod & gun club that had crimps like that. Alternatively they might be old impact driver .22 charges for setting nails in concrete. Might it have been a cartridge for a starter pistol for track events? In the picture it appears like it may have a crimp on the base as though it was fired. A dud?
aj0421
Elite Member
It has a strike mark on the back yes. I tried doing a little research and believe it is called something like "bird shot" where it throws out small pellets that spread when fired. I know nothing about bullets just going off what I have read.
stetam
Elite Member
I have probably 20 of those tags and they were for lockers at a pool. Definitely key tags for something.
grf1868
Full Member
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- Mar 8, 2021
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Rock Jock got it, it’s either from a starter pistol or a Ramset for putting nails into concrete. The shot shells you mentioned look like a regular 22 round except instead of a single bullet on the end it has a small plastic capsule filled with tiny bb’s, like a mini shotgun shell. Very short affective range on them though.
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stetam
Elite Member
Birdshot shells
Attachments
Rock Jock
Elite Member
I've also heard of those cartridges being referred to as snake shot on occasion. I think the rod and gun club I was referring to used to use .22 cal shot cartridges for shooting clays in a confined area with a berm backstop. I have often wondered if they used smoothbore barrels (??? .22???) or rifled barrels and simply lived with a bad leading problem in their guns. Arcane sport, but that is NJ, and things may have gotten crazy because the area was more farm/orchard land in the 19th Century and transitioned into a megalopolis.
achaios
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